After The Mistletoe
by Dragoness
Summary: Oh wow, I'm writing a holiday fic! o.O Hee...Anyways...Ash's overcome countless obstacles in the past, he's never backed down from a challenge or let his fear get the best of him, but on Christmas Eve, he has to face his scariest moment yet...
1. Ash's Philematophobia

A/N: Cliché title/basis? Perhaps…Cliché plot? I certainly hope not. *^_~* Yes, this takes place after the song "Under The Mistletoe", but you don't need to have heard the song to understand the fic. As a matter of fact, I've pretty much disregarded the rest of the cd and just focused on this song…or rather, the aftermath…This is part one of…maybe three…Heheheh…Enjoy, and happy holidays all! *^o^*

Ash

I've done some embarrassing things in my life…Okay, okay…I've done a _lot_ of embarrassing things in my life…but this one takes the cake…and the ice cream…and the cherry on top…and the cookies…and the punch…Oh geez, the _punch_…It's still all over me…Ugh…At least with the cookies I could eat the crumbs off, but I'm not so desperate that I'm going to suck the punch out of my clothes!

I really can't believe that happened, looking back on it now…Sometimes, I can't believe what an _idiot_ I can be…Yeah, yeah, I know…I _have_ to believe it, because I am an idiot…sometimes……Okay! Fine! More than that! Geez…

Well, if I had known what was going to happen, maybe I would've been a little more careful in my hasty retreat…Maybe…It was already too late to avoid complete embarrassment…I mean…Under the circumstances…I mean…Well…

_Why_ does that have to be some great Christmas tradition!? It's the dumbest idea in the world! Just because two people are standing under some…ugh…_plant_…and a _parasite_ at that…THAT SHOULD NOT MEAN THAT THEY HAVE TO KISS! It's STUPID!

…I do not want a girl to kiss me…It's…It's gross! I mean…Yuck! You have to put your mouths together and…and get all…close and stuff…Just because of a plant!? Ewww…! Eweweweweww…

What's worse is that…it was _Misty_……I mean, really, I have nothing against her…Really…Nothing…Except that she can be kinda violent if she wants to, but it's nothing I haven't gotten used to…from her _and _my Pokémon…But, I mean…_kissing_!? Me and her!? NO WAY! Never ever ever!!! I almost had a heart attack when I looked up! Oh man…

Mistletoes should die…They should all be _burned_…I'll get Cyndaquil to help out with that…Just so long as the house doesn't burn down…That would just make everything worse…

Okay, here's what happened…We were all having this Christmas party, right? It was a pretty good one too, I guess…and then…_it_ happened…

I was just _standing_ there, _minding my own business_…and then _she_ comes along…Our conversation went something like this…

"Hi Ash! Did you get something to eat?"

That's Misty being _way_ too perky. She scares me when she's that perky. Have I ever mentioned that before…?

"Uh. Yeah."

That's me…being scared of her perkiness.

"Um, Ash? Did you realize we're standing under the mistletoe?"

That's the part where I realized I was in grave danger, looked up, and saw the evil, evil, evil plant up on ceiling, and that's when all heck broke loose.

After putting two and two together…

_Mistletoe…Me…Misty…Mistletoe…Me…Misty…Mistletoe……me…Misty……Mistletoe = kissing…Misty + Me + Mistletoe = Me and Misty kissing…_

…I did the only logical thing.

Well, first I screamed, which was very logical. Then I ran for my life, which was even more logical.

Then…I can't believe she did this…She…yelled after me. I think she wanted to know where I was going. I gave her the same excuse I gave last time. I mean…it was easy to remember. So, maybe it wasn't a very _good_ excuse, but I was still in "run for your life" mode…Anyway, I told her I was going to get more Christmas cookies…They are good and all…Um, anyway…Yeah, she accused me of reusing that excuse so I just said that I knew that…Hey, it's not like a mere handful of cookies is gonna fill me up, you know…

Before I know it, she's yelling at me again, but this time to watch out. By the time I realize that I'm on a collision course with the refreshment table, I bump into someone carrying a cup of punch, slip on what spilled, slide forward, flip onto the table somehow, get up close and personal with the cookies, then slide more into the punch, which makes it easier for me to slide the rest of the way over the table, and the next thing I know, I'm falling through pine needles and branches and ornaments before hitting my head on the trunk of the Christmas tree, which then fell on top of me, and only me, because I was the only one who didn't have enough reaction time to get out of the way. Yeah, go ahead. Picture that in your mind. Laugh. See if I care.

Yeah, that's me on the floor under the Christmas tree…the seriously-hurting Ash Ketchum…Definitely the life of the party, as Mom would say…

Yeah…THAT WAS NOT FUN…

Okay, so then after I ruined the entire party, they had to roll the tree over enough so they could drag me out from underneath it…That wasn't pleasant either…All those branches and needles and ornaments are dangerous I tell you!

Well, then they dragged me out…and I had scatches and bruises and crumbs and cake and punch all over me and someone almost fainted because they thought the punch was blood and that was actually kind of funny, but…

Brock sent me upstairs to get washed up…and as I went up there, I could hear them all snickering…well, the ones who weren't mourning the waste of food and the killing of the Christmas tree…but what got me was a very brief talk between Brock and Misty that went on even before I got to the second floor landing…

"Hey, Misty? Do you know how that even happened…?"

At that point, I paused to look back to see her reaction…Her face turned a bright red and she kind of looked away. If I remember correctly "Nothing…" was her exact wording…

…That pretty much sums up the most embarrassing event in my life…It was so embarrassing, even Misty was too embarrassed to admit she had anything to do with it. I don't blame her. If I _could've_, I know _I_ wouldn't've had anything to do with it…_Pikachu_ didn't even want anything to do with it…

…I didn't go back down after I showered and changed…There was no way I was gonna show my face down there again…Not for a week at least, and by then we'd probably be well on our way outta here anyway…That works fine for me…Except that Misty would be coming with us…ugh…I don't wanna think about…that right now…

I didn't want to choose an obvious hiding place. I didn't want anyone to find me, and I'm sure someone would come to look for me eventually. So the bathroom was out, so was our room, the closet…

I was so happy when I saw that little tiny string hanging from the ceiling in the hallway…I was too short to reach it, but Bulbasaur got it, no problem. He also helped me actually get up the stairs and into the attic, and also pull up the little staircase so no one would figure out where I went. Once I was sure I was safe, I called him back to his Pokéball and searched for a place to just stay until…someone found me. I wasn't gonna go back down unless someone forced me to.

There was a really old, dusty, kinda thin blanket in the far corner behind some boxes, and it was nice and snug and hidden. I took the blanket with me, tried not to cough when the dust hit my face, and crawled into an empty box that was laying on its side with the top open.

There's this little spider on one of the other boxes…It's really little…Looks…brown with kinda yellowish stripes on its legs. It's definitely not a Pokémon, just a common house spider…If I didn't know better, I'd wonder what it was doing up there all by itself with me…Maybe it did something horribly embarrassing too…but nah…It's just a spider, spiders don't do horribly embarrassing things…or if they do they probably don't hide in attics…Probably because spiders usually live in attics, right? So if it wanted to hide because it's embarrassed, it would probably go downstairs…then probably get squashed by Misty…ehh…Yuck…

I pull the blanket tighter around me and sneeze a little as the dust tries to crawl up my nose. When I look up again, I notice there's another spider on that box over there…It's a lot bigger than the first one I saw, and it has different colors too. The new one is more black, with some red on its back…The black one is right on the edge of the box, kinda waving to the little one. The little one moves forward and it kinda waves to the big one. They both gradually get closer to each other and they keep waving and touching each other and stuff…It's kinda weird if you ask me…Oh, I know! It's like that one time I was watching this nature show and um…They said it was a mating ritual or something. And then the…the male…the male gets on top of the female and um……Oh yeah, that's where Mom came in and turned it off, saying, "That's supposed to be for kids!?" I still don't get why she did that…

Well, whatever I missed then I'm seeing live now, so I guess I can't complain too much…Um…Whatever…they're doing…um…I guess the little one's the male…uh…Okay, they're not really doing much anymore…

That gets boring after a while…It's also very weird…They just kinda…decided they liked each other…even without a mistletoe…I don't get why anyone would do that…I mean…Everyone keeps telling me I'll understand when I'm older, but…you know, I kinda wish I understood it now…It all just seems so…gross…And what happened downstairs…I don't even wanna think about it…

…but…what if I hadn't run away…or crashed into…everything…or…? What if Misty stopped me? What if…ack, would she've _kissed_ me!?? She's always saying how she's a romantic type, but…_kissing_?…ME? I don't think even Misty would do that……right…? I…I don't think she…would've…I mean…she only said that we were under the mistletoe, she didn't mention anything about kissing……but still…she did sound kinda mad at me when I ran away…Oh no, I hope she isn't mad at me! Oh, she probably is…the way she acted when Brock asked her what happened…oh noo…Oh man…Now I really can't go back down there…

…Wait…Does that mean she _did_ wanna kiss me!!? I hope not!…But what if she did!? Uh…What does that mean?? Does she…does she…uhmmm……What if she does…? No, now she's gonna hate me!…No, she's gonna hate me either way so I guess it doesn't matter…but……did she…?

…Whoa…

…This way too much for me…I'm getting a headache…

I lean my head back and look at the spiders again…They're still just sitting there doing nothing…I close my eyes, just to rest a little until my headache goes away…

…I guess I fell asleep. I have no idea how long I was sleeping, but I can kind of hear Misty and Brock and a few others calling for me. Both of my legs have fallen asleep and my back hurts from sitting all crunched up to fit in the box and my neck _really _hurts and I feel all stiff and I'm ready to just stop hiding and go back down there just so I can sleep in a real bed…I'll just ignore Misty…Pretend like nothing ever happened…

…Yeah right…Oh, I can just imagine all types of weird looks she'll be giving me…or worse…none at all…Maybe she'll ignore me…Well…I guess that'd be okay…because that's what I was gonna do to her, but……well, this is Misty we're talking about! She won't ignore me and she won't let me ignore her…or will she? Or even worse! Maybe she'll try to kiss me! Yuck…

…Or maybe it won't be so bad…I don't know how that could happen, but Brock says stuff like how that's one of the greatest feelings in the world and Misty agrees with him and sometimes I wonder whether they're gonna start kissing, but they never do, which I think is a very good thing. I wouldn't be able to stand it if Brock and Misty kissed…Well, I probably wouldn't be able to stand it if anybody kissed, but…those two especially…I dunno why…It's just…gross…I dunno if it would be more or less gross than Misty kissing me but…they're both really gross! Really!

I try to stop thinking about gross stuff and shift a little in my box. I'm ready to leave. Whatever happens, happens. I can take it…A Pokémon Master doesn't just go hide in the attic at every little bad thing…Then again…kissing isn't a _little_ bad thing…Well…then again…it _might_ be okay…I mean, I'm sure I'll live through it……maybe…I hope so at least……uh…if it even happens! And it _might_ not! I mean…I don't think Misty would…er…I hope she wouldn't…um…

Come on, Ash…Whatever happens, happens…You've gone through worse…

……Oh, who am I trying to kid? I haven't been through anything like this before! This is worse than everything else combined!

Still…I take a deep breath and start to move forward a little painfully…It doesn't matter what happens now, right? I already ruined the party, so I probably deserve whatever punishment I get…

…I stop just as I poke my head out…

Remember those two spiders? Yeah, well, um…The male? He's kinda…uhh…How should I say this? Um…Kinda…halfway…not there anymore…Um…As a matter of fact…uh…the…female…she's kinda…eating him…

I quickly pull back into my little box and sit there very stiffly, clutching the blanket very tightly.

If that's what girls do to guys after they kiss and and stuff, then there is _no way ANYONE_ can make me go back down there…


	2. Misty's Anablephobia

A/N: We're baack…*^_^*;; If you're wondering about the chapter title…Heh…It's not a real phobia of Misty's (it IS a real phobia though), but it fits the best out of phobias that I could find…*^_^*; Anyways…Oh yes…If you're looking for Togepi…check the eggnog that Brock made…hehehe…That's the only reference to the rest of the cd that I'm gonna make I think…*^-^*;;;

Misty

Where is that boy!!? I can't believe this…First he runs off like that…and that certainly was something, in and of itself…but now he's gone and disappeared! It's been over half an hour too…Argh, sometimes, I really don't understand what's going through that little brain of his…

It's bad enough that he took off like the devil himself was after him after I pointed out that we were under the mistletoe, but…vanishing into thin air? I think not, Ash Ketchum! You had better show your sorry little face down here if you don't want me to pound it in…and believe me, I will! You have _no_ idea what you just did…

I didn't even try to kiss you yet!…Yes, _yet_…Oh, I don't want to think about what you would've done if I _had_ tried, looking at what you did when I _didn't_…but…that…hurt…I guess I should've been expecting it…It's okay though…I'm over it…or at least I will be when I'm through with you…Heheh…

I don't understand how someone can be soo dense!? You'd think he thought I was going to kill him or something. If it really bothered him that much, he could've just politely backed away from that particular spot and said he didn't want to be kissed. That would've been perfectly fine with me…I've waited this long, I guess I can wait a little longer…I guess…It wouldn't explain why he was standing there in the first place…unless he _really_ didn't know that he was under the mistletoe…but how can someone not notice something like that? It's usually one of the first things people take note of when they walk into a Christmas party. That boy…sigh…

…I wonder where he is…!? He couldn't have gone far…If he went downstairs someone would've noticed him…I already checked in our room…I don't think he climbed out the window…so where is he!? This is starting to really get on my nerves…

…I hope he's okay…I am going to kick myself if something happened to him…Not that it's my fault…He's the one who was standing there, he was the one who ran away and trashed the refreshment table and the tree…Still…

…Why hasn't he come down yet? Is he scared? What could he possibly be scared of…? Ash? Scared? Those two words don't go together. Not in my book…Not usually at least…He's always trying to act so brave and bold…It's not much of an act, actually…Well, he is brave…and a little more than bold. I don't know what _I_ did to scare him…There's nothing scary about _me_…

I wish he didn't run away…Not because of what happened after he did…but because of what could've happened if he didn't…I…It would've been my first…real…kiss……and I think it's pretty obvious it would've been his too…but that's no reason to run away…I guess he is still young…but…I think…or I would like to think…that he would've liked it…I'd like to think that I would too…

…Of course…_neither of us will find out if he's vanished from the face of the earth!_ Now where is he!?

Maybe…the closet!? I swing the door open to see…a lot of cleaning equipment…but no Ash…Unless maybe he's hiding under something…?

"Ash?" I call…but there's no answer…Not even any shifting, like he was trying to make himself more invisible…Guess he's not in there…I close the door and frown. This is getting increasingly frustrating…

I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and see Brock come up with Pikachu trailing beside him. Brock's cheeks are a little red from being out in the cold. They went to check outside.

"Did you find him?" he asks.

I shake my head no. Now I'm really beginning to worry…It's not like Ash to disappear for so long…Maybe he crawled into a really tiny space and got stuck…or…maybe he fell somewhere and got knocked unconscious or…

Great…That is NOT helping, Misty…Concentrate on finding him first, _then_ decide whether or not you need to worry…

"Brock, you think he's okay?"

What? Where did that come from? Waitasec, did _I_ say that!? No, I'm showing concern for him again! Argh……Oh well…I think Brock already figured it out anyway…At least _Ash_ isn't here…He'd probably freak out again or something…sigh…

"Knowing Ash…? He's either in really big trouble or he's just fine…"

"Well, gee, thanks Brock. _That's_ comforting…"

He shrugs. "It's the truth…"

I groan loudly. "This is _not_ how I wanted to spend Christmas Eve…Ash just _has _to go and cause trouble for us, doesn't he?" The last sentence came out in a growl. Everything that's gone wrong today had to do with none other than Ash Ketchum. First that unbelieveable mistletoe incident…and the then the refreshment table and the Christmas tree…and now…I have to go _find_ him…because no one else wants to spend the time it takes to do that…Besides, there's still some mess downstairs to pick up…When I find him, I am going to give him a piece of my mind…maybe a taste of my mallet too if he's still acting stupid when I find him…

…I hate this sometimes…It's so much easier to get mad than to feel sorry for him…Especially when he's being an idiot, like now…

"…Misty…?" Brock asks quietly, breaking me out of my reverie once again.

"…Yeah?" I ask absently. He's staring at the ceiling for some odd reason or another and it's kind of freaky…

"Did you check the attic?"

"The…?" I look up. Sure enough, there was a door in the ceiling that I hadn't noticed before, complete with a little string hanging down to open it with. "No way, Brock! Ash can't reach up that high! _I_ can't even reach up that high!"

"…His Pokémon can, can't they?"

Oh.

"Uhh…Yeah…" I say sheepishly.

Brock steps forward. "You think if I give you a boost you can get it open?"

I subconsiously step back. "Uh…Sure I guess…"

He grins a little. "Ash'll probably be up there. It's the only place we haven't looked."

He braces himself and cups his hands together to form a stepping stool for me. I climb up and steady myself by holding his shoulder as he slowly stands up so I can reach the string and pull it down. The door pops open easily, too easy actually. It literally catches me by surprise by whacking me on the head as it falls open, therefore causing both me and Brock to topple to the floor very ungracefully.

After general "ow"ing, we pick ourselves up and end up staring at the small staircase that isn't even half the height of the hallway.

"Uh…Misty, I think you might have to go this one alone…" Brock observes thoughtfully, "I'm going to have to lift you to get you up there again, and then…well it probably won't support both our weights…um…but the good news is-"

"Good news?" I interrupt impatiently, "Good news is good. Out with the good news."

"Well, the door popped open really easily right? That means it was probably used recently…"

"Ash…" I breathe…I'm not about to admit it, but I'm really happy that we've finally found him…Unless…he climbed up there…and then…climbed out the window from there or something…Or maybe Nurse Joy went up there a few days ago to get Christmas ornaments, or maybe…

"Are you going up or what?"

"What!? Oh! Um…Of course I am! Ready when you are!"

"Pika!" Pikachu interrupts and hops onto my shoulder. I take it Pikachu wants to come too.

"Alright, upsy-daisy…!" Brock does his little stepping stool thing again, and I climp up onto the steps and into the attic. Brock looks up at us. "Okay, Misty, I'll be waiting for you guys right here."

"Okay, Brock."

"Pikachu."

"Come on, Pikachu, let's find Ash…"

I look around the dusty, dismal space under the roof. Light's only coming in from one window and the hole in the floor where we came in, and it's getting dark outside, so it's hard to see anything at all.

"Ash!? If you're in here…say something…Um…Why don't you come out now? It's really creepy in here and I'm sure you don't want to stay here any longer than you have to, right…? Um……Ash?"

"Pikapi!?"

I stop to listen and Pikachu does too. It's quiet in here…too quiet…The only noise I can hear is our breathing…

"Is he up there?" Brock calls from below us.

"Shh! I don't know…" I reply anxiously. If Ash heard us, he should've answered…he would've answered…Unless he really doesn't want to be found…but why…why would he want to stay hidden so badly…?

"…Ash…?"

"Pikapi…?"

Now I'm getting kind of scared…I can just imagine all kinds of creepy crawly creatures creeping and crawling around in this place…It's giving me chills…

"Ash, come on! This isn't funny! Come out and come out now!"

"Pika!"

_…Where is he…?_ I move forward slowly. I _really_ don't want to be here…but if Ash is here…and he's not  gonna _answer_ me, then I have to go find him…

"Ash…I'm serious…Stop hiding…" I'm pleading now. I really don't want to crawl through all this junk to look for him…and I'm also scared that maybe he's hurt or something…I really hope not…

If he's not up here and he made me crawl through all this stuff looking for him, I'm gonna kill him when I see him. If he _is_ here and he made me crawl through all this stuff looking for him, I'm gonna kill him even more…

"Ash, where are you!?"

Why isn't he answering…!?

"Pikachupi!"

"Huh?" I look over at Pikachu. He's over by the corner and looking intently into an overturned box. Maybe…? "Ash!?"

"Pikapi."

I disregard my discomfort with this whole situation and stumble over random junk to join Pikachu. Now I have reason to worry. If Ash is really in that box and Pikachu's found him and he _still_ hasn't said anything…I don't want to think about the possibilities…

I kneel next to Pikachu and peer into the gloom.

"Ash…!?"


	3. Misty's Arachnophobia

Misty

He's…okay…I think…He's pressed back against the box as far as he can go and staring at me with huge wide eyes. He looks absolutely terrified. I don't think I've ever seen him look that scared…He's completely tensed up, and his teeth are being forced together while his lips refuse to close completely, and he's holding onto some…piece of cloth like his life depends on it…I think it used to be a blanket…Well, whatever it is, it's dusty and dirty and I can't even tell what color it used to be…

"Ash, are you okay…?" I ask gently…I still want to kill him, but that can wait until we're out of here…Right now, I don't want to scare him anymore than he already is so I can convince him to come down…

He's not doing anything…If anything he looks more scared…Just great…

"Ash? Come on…We…We were worried about you…"

I think I saw some type of reaction at that, but whatever it was it's gone now…He still hasn't said anything…

"…Ash? Is something the matter…?"

"Pikapi…?"

He fidgets a little and pulls the piece of cloth closer to him. He's holding it so tight his knuckles are white! What's the matter with him? He's also…breathing really hard…I didn't notice that before…but now it seems rather obvious. Maybe that was the breathing I heard when I came up here, not mine and Pikachu's…

"Are you okay?" I try again. I'm trying to be nice…I _think_ that's what he wants right…? I know I wouldn't like it if someone came looking for me and then started yelling at me…but this is Ash we're talking about and anything could be possible…

He's still staring at me like about to attack him or something…He should know better than that……unless…Oh, this doesn't have anything to do with…_that_…does it…?

Oh, he _really_ oughta know better than that…Ash…you…you can be so silly sometimes…

"Come on, Ash…I'm not going to hurt you…" I reach for his hand so I can try to drag him out of the box, but he makes a sharp whimpering sound and jerks his hand back hard. I think he said "No…!"

"What…?"

He's whimpering more…I think he's trying to make himself smaller…I can't believe he's doing this…It wasn't _that_ big a deal…

"…What's wrong? Why won't you answer me?"

I see him bite down hard on his lip and try to scrunch back farther. Alright…I won't stand for much more of this…

"Fine. If you're not gonna talk, then the least you can do is come downstairs! Maybe Brock will be able to get something out of you…"

He glances at me again, and I can still see the fear continuing to rise in him…Why is still acting this way? Can't he see that I just want to help him now? Well, whatever it is, I've had enough of it. I grab him by both hands and this time I don't let go.

Whoa, he's struggling a lot more than I expected…Pretty fiercely too I might add….Well he's trying fiercely at least…Kicking and screaming for help from Pikachu…but Pikachu can't do anything because if he tries to shock me, he'll shock Ash too…besides…I don't think Pikachu would shock me on command anyway…He's too nice for that…but _Ash_ on the other hand…

"What is your _problem_!?" I demand as I gradually drag him out of that little box. For all the fighting he's doing, it almost seems _too_ easy to get him out…like there's not enough intensity behind his struggling…but I _know_ he's trying hard. It's obvious that he doesn't want to come out of there at any cost…so it shouldn't have been so easy for me to pull him out…

"Let me go!!" he cries aloud, but when I look, I can see real tears at the corners of his eyes, which are squeezed shut in what almost looks like pain…He barely gets that sentence out though before he starts coughing heavily and in a sudden pang of worry, I hope that it's just from all the dust everywhere…

"Are you o-?!" I start, then stop in surprise when I think I see a large red spot at the base of his neck. That wasn't there the last time I saw him…What…?

He takes advantage of my suddenly slack grip and backs right back into the box and pulls the cloth over him again. Argh! Now I have to pull him out again…and I can't see that spot anymore…It's too dark in that box…What was it…?

He coughs again, and it's not just a little cough, but it's a real hoarse, hard one. He winces for a second, then goes back to trying to stay as far away from me as possible…

How could he be sick…? He was _fine_ when I last saw him…unless…?

"Ash!? Get back out here…What happened to your neck?"

He glances at me again. "Huh?" Now that I take the time to notice, he does look bleary…

"Your neck…I saw a red mark on it…Come out so I can get a better look…"

He doesn't move…He just keeps staring at me, breathing raspily…

"Ash…Please…I'm not going to do anything else to you, just let me see it…"

Ash, we're in a dusty old attic probably full of all sorts of creepy things and…please let me look at it…If it's something bad I'll be able to tell, but looking at you right now, it probably _is_ something bad…

His defenses are coming down…just a little…I think I see a tad more worry than fear now…not that there's a huge difference between the two…but he looks away stiffly and squeezes the blanket more.

"Pikapi…!" Pikachu's even pleading with him now…He won't be able to hold out for much longer…

…But he's even ignoring Pikachu…This is bad…It's not because Pikachu's…siding with me, is it…? Ash, it was just a mistletoe! That's all…! It…_could've_ been more…but it wasn't…Please don't do this to me…

…First thing's first though…I've gotta figure out what's wrong with him…and then…then…I'll figure out the rest…

"…Does it hurt…?" I ask quietly.

He looks at me questioningly. "Huh…?"

"Your neck…Um…Right around here…" I say, showing him the spot on my neck where his spot would be.

His eyes widen a little, and he kind of shrugs then winces afterwards…This is definitely not just something little…

"Ash, come on…Let me look at it…Please…?"

He's still not being cooperative…Fine! I'll make him cooperate. I'm not gonna let him sit there and be miserable no matter how much he doesn't want me near him!

I grab him again and pull hard and fast, effectively propelling him out of the box and almost into me, but he wouldn't let that happen...He's holding back, backing away as best he can…I grip his wrists tightly while he squirms and peer at his neck. It's definitely not just some little spot…It almost looks like a rash, but…No, it's not…There's something in the center…like a……_bug bite_!?

I feel a good reason to panic now. Bugs are _never_ good…and they are _not_ allowed to bite my friends!…Or me…Let's not forget me…

As I panic, I tug him closer to me so I can get a good look at the bite. He freezes immediately, or tries to…I can hear his breathing get tenser, quicker…It looks like a spider bite…Not that…Please not that…

Of all the bugs in the world…spiders are the _worst_…I remember…when I was little…I was bitten by a spider…and it made me so sick…I had to go to the hospital…and…

Ash! Oh no…I hope…I hope that doesn't happen now…Please no…

He starts to cough but it sounds like it got caught in his throat and it comes out as more of a wheeze than anything…and not a normal wheeze either…I've never heard him make that noise before. It almost sounds like he has asthma or something and I _know_ he doesn't…

"Are you alright!?"

He tries to nod, but even that gets interrupted by another braying wheeze. Alarmed, I instinctively hold him closer, he's really cold, and try rubbing his back, but that only seems to be making it worse because he's tensing up more…I think he really _is_ afraid of me…

"Ash…Calm down…I'm not gonna hurt you…You need to relax…Just breathe…In and out…In and out…" I'm trying to sound soothing, but I'm really just as scared as he probably is…

He gives me a weird look, but I feel him relax, just a little, and gradually his breathing grows easier…It's still audible, but at least he isn't coughing and wheezing anymore……Coughing and wheezing…Eh…Team Rocket had _better_ not come and try to steal Pikachu _now_…

"…Are you okay now…?" I ask him softly. Right now I don't want to do anything to alarm him if that means he's going to have trouble breathing again…

"…A little…" he whispers hoarsely. I can still feel him trying to edge away from me, not as forcefully as before, but I don't think he likes the fact that I'm even touching him…If I wasn't worried about his health, I'd be worried about what that means about what he thinks about me…but I don't have time for that…

"It looks like a spider bite…" I tell him quietly. I'm still trying to be the calm and collected one here…He looks sharply at me then cringes and coughs a little. What does that mean…? "Ash, did you see a spider…?"

It takes him a little while to respond, but he eventually nods…I'm not thrilled about that answer, but I guess it's better than just getting bitten and not knowing what did it…

"What did it look like…?"

He's quiet again, then he finally talks. "…I saw two…Um…Well…Um…The only one…" Here he has to stop a moment to gasp for breath. He also puts a hand over his chest and that scares me… "The only one that's still alive…" he continues wearily, "was this…big one…black…uh…she was a little red too…"

"What!!?" I screech. He did _not _just describe what I think he just described…!!…And why did he say "she?" How can you tell…?

"Uh…she was big…and black…and she had a little red on its back…um…"

"You saw a black widow!?" No…! This isn't happening, this isn't happening…oh I hope there aren't anymore around…My skin feels all itchy already….Wait! Ash…Right…

"Uhh…" Now he sounds confused…Don't tell me he doesn't know a black widow when he sees one…

"Did it bite you…?" I press on strainingly…He did mention more than one spider, didn't he? Maybe it was the other one that bit him…

"Uh…I dunno…" he replies weakly. He's holding a hand over his chest again…This is not good…This is not good…

"Let's get you downstairs…" I whisper to him. I have both arms around him protectively…More to make sure he can't get away again than anything…He doesn't like it, but he's not fighting against it anymore…I hope it's just because he's getting used to it, not because he can't…

I start to help him stand up but as I do, he _does_ struggle. "I can get outta here by myself…" he mumbles and breaks loose. He immediately staggers. Not a good sign…

"Uh…Are you sure…?" It's obvious that he can't…Of course, I know it's gonna take a while for _him_ to realize that…

"Yeah…" I can sense a bit of impatience in his voice…like it should be obvious that he _can_ make it out of the attic by himself…Sigh…It's not exactly a short walk to the exit in his condition…

He takes a step forward…barely…I still think he's more eager to get away from me than to actually leave…The second step doesn't go so well. His leg buckles and he drops to his knees. I'm ready to help him walk the rest of the way, but there he goes trying again…I really shouldn't let him do this…It's only going to make it worse…but there's no other way to make him see that he _does_ need my help right now…He's trying to stand up again, but he falls again, and this time he can't even support himself with his arms and he lies on the floor, his face hidden in his arms. I can see his back slowly heaving up and down, but other than that he's completely still…

"Ash…?"

"Pikapi…"

We both get closer to him. I put a hand on his back. It's…a little sticky…and stringy…Ew! A spiderweb and…eww…dead spider…He flinches and moves so he's looking forward. I think he looks angry…He pushes himself up slowly, but he's still too weak to try to stand…

"Do you want me to-?"

"No…"

Figures…It…looks like he's going to try crawling there……Let's see how long _this_ lasts…

…That wasn't very long…

At least now he won't be able to struggle anymore…With a sigh, I carefully lift him up. I have to hold him close or else we would look silly with me just kind of dragging him across the floor…Much to my surprise, he actually holds onto my arm, very tightly too…Maybe he just doesn't want to fall…Well, either way, I half drag half support him back to the stairs…You know, he's heavier than he looks…When this is all over, I have to remind him to cut back on the snacks…and the post-second helpings…That or I'm getting out of shape…Well we'll worry about that _after_ Ash is all better…

With my help, it doesn't take very long to get back to the stairs…but then I realize we have another problem…I can't exactly just _drop_ him down there…The same goes for me too…

"Brock!?"

He appears quickly and looks up at us. His eyebrows go up when he sees Ash. I don't know about his eyes. I can never tell with his eyes…

"Is he okay!?"

"No…I…." What am I supposed to say…? I'll worry about that later…First we have to get down…Maybe the same way Ash got up here…? "Ash? Where's Bulbasaur's Pokéball? Or maybe Chikorita…?" Normally, I would've asked him to get it himself, but I don't want him to waste anymore energy…He can't even lift his head…or he's not trying to…

He doesn't answer me, but instead one of his hands goes to his belt and he takes a Pokéball, enlarges it, and tosses it down the steps. It bounces on a few then lands at Brock's feet and lets out a white light which forms into Bulbasaur. The Pokéball floats back up to his hand and he puts it back on his belt. I don't think he's going to give Bulbasaur any orders, so I do it for him…Most of his Pokémon will listen to me anyway…

"Bulbasaur, use your vines to help Ash get down…"

"Saur," Bulbasaur nods and extends dark green tendrils up at us. They wrap around Ash and I let go so Bulbasaur can bring him down. He lowers him slowly. Ash stays limp as he does this…Bulbasaur lets him go next to Brock, who catches Ash when he realizes he can't stand by himself. Bulbasaur helps me down next and Pikachu jumps onto my shoulder.

When we're all safely back on the ground, I take another good look at Ash now that there's actually light to see him with…He's shivering, pale, and he looks so small and helpless with Brock holding him like that…and that bite on his neck…Maybe it's just my imagination, but it looks redder than before…

I forget all about worrying and get straight to business. I didn't get him down here for nothing, now he's going to get better or else!

"Brock, I'll get him into a bed, you go down and call the hospital and get an ice pack while you're there…Tell them Ash got bitten by a black widow…"

"A black widow!?" he echoes in shock.

"Right," I nod, already taking Ash away from Brock. We don't have time to lose. "Now hurry!"

"Right." He hesitates for only a second before running downstairs.

I hold Ash tightly and bring him into our room, then help him into the nearest bed and cover him with a blanket. He still feels so cold, but he's sweating a little…He shifts in the bed then looks at me with pain teared eyes…

"Misty…what…?" he breathes, "The…_hospital_…?"

"Shh…You're gonna be fine…I just…don't want to risk anything…"

"…I feel okay…" he whispers, "I'm not sick…"

I almost want to laugh at that. He's lying through his teeth…

"I know, Ash…I…know…"

A/N: Um…I'm up for another part? How about all you guys? 'Course, I have to write it first, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, right? It'll just be a little late for Christmas…Oh btw, Llyxius…am I really that predictable…? *^_^*;;  One last thing…In Japan, it wouldn't be a black widow spider, it'd be a button spider…They don't have black widows there, and I may be wrong but button spiders might be worse…Anyways…I just said black widow cuz I'm going by the dub and the dub woulda said black widow…*^_^*;;;


	4. Ash's Kasumiphobia

Ash

Um…First of all…I'm really not as sick as everyone thinks I am…Um…I just kinda _really_ hurt all over and I only threw up three times…but um…yeah the hospital people came…and they took me to the hospital…and they did stuff to me to get rid of the poison….and um…now I have my own room here…heh…I do feel better now…not that…I was feeling really bad before……erm…Okay, fine…So it was really _really_ bad…I had this awful headache too and Misty wasn't helping…

Speaking of Misty…

Why…_Why_…of _all people_…did _she_ have to be the one to find me!? Why not Brock? Why not _just_ Pikachu!? Is that really too much to ask? I can't believe she…eghh…You know, with just a little more time I could've been outta there all by myself. But no, she's not patient enough for that…Forget what she's been saying about a little more time and I'd be dead. She's lying. I'm fine.

Really though, I think she was enjoying herself a little too much up there…Really, she didn't need to hold me _that_ close…I think she might still want to kiss me…and then what…? Er…No, we don't want to find out…I just won't let her kiss me…I really, really hope she doesn't try…

When I told Pikachu why I was hiding from Misty in the first place, he started _laughing_…Can you imagine that? It really wasn't very nice…He doesn't believe Misty's gonna eat me or even just hurt me or anything, even after I told him about the spiders. I think he trusts Misty a little too much…

…I guess I can't really blame him…I mean…If it wasn't for her, I'd still be sitting up in that box…being sick…and scared…Don't get me wrong, I'm _still _scared…but not really as much as I was before…She hasn't even said anything about the mistletoe thing or kissing or anything…I…think she's really worried about me…so…maybe that means…she isn't gonna…do anything…to me…I think…

Huh, what's that? Oh…the door…Wait a second…That's Misty!

I can't help it. I freeze up when I see her…She already did scare me a little even before the mistletoe, but now…

"Pikachupi!" Pikachu…You're way too happy to see her…

"Merry Christmas…" she whispers. What's she talking about? This doesn't seem too merry to me…"How are you feeling…?" She's being really quiet…Not just whispering, but she's also walking and sitting down next to me really quietly too…Um…That's weird…

"I'm fine…" I answer her tightly. I…don't really want her there…alone…or anything…but…um…Hey, where's Brock? Um…She wanted to see me all by herself? Why!? What's she gonna do??

"I'm glad…You had me scared back there…"

You think _you_ were scared!? No, I'd better not say that…

"Um…Sorry…"

"It's alright now…I'm just glad you're okay…"

Yeah me too…um…Why is she being so nice?? I'm better now. You'd think she'd be using that as excuse to get really mad at me for causing all that trouble in the first place.

"I…I guess I kinda ruined the party, huh…?" The Christmas party…The hospital guys carried me through it on the way to the ambulance…It wasn't lively at all…I just ruined the whole thing… "And…and Christmas too…" Christmas isn't gonna be the same with me in the hospital…

"What…? Ash don't say that…Maybe…the party yeah…but it was good while it lasted…but no one can _ruin_ Christmas…Especially not you…"

What!? What's _that_ supposed to mean…??

"Uh…"

I think she's blushing a little…She's kinda ducking her head to hide it I guess…but I can still see……Um…Why is she blushing…??

"Don't…don't worry about it, Ash…It's gonna be fine…"

"…I hope so…"

"It _will_ be…"

Um…She sounds pretty positive about that…What's she thinking about…? She looks like she's thinking about something…uh…

She swallows and smiles strangely at me. "It's gonna be fine, because you're fine…"

…Whoa…! Um…I'm glad that she's glad that I'm okay, but…what is she talking about!? I could be wrong, but I think she's trying to say more than what she's saying…and I'm getting confused now…

"Th…anks…"

Um…Hey, it's the only thing I could think of, okay?

"You're welcome…"

She looks down again at her lap…I didn't really pay attention before, but she has her backpack with her…and now it looks like she's getting something from it…

"Um…I brought your Christmas present…" she says quietly and takes out a little, flat, long package that kind of bends when she picks it up. "It's…not much…but I think you'll like it…"

She got me a present!? Well, wait…Of course she did…I mean, I got her something too…Uh oh…I don't know where it is! I left it in my backpack and that's…still at the Pokémon Center I think…Wait…She got me a present and she's still _giving_ it to me after everything I did…!?

I start to stutter as I take it from her. It's really limp and it makes a funny sound with the paper and all…It also seems pretty soft…

"Th-thanks…Uh…I mean…Y-you really…shouldn't've…I…"

"Ash, I already bought it, and I already gave it to you, so you'd better take it now…"

"Uh…Yeah, I guess…Oh, Misty! Your present…It's in my backpack…I think I left it at the Pokémon Center…"

She giggles a little at that. "We made sure we took it with us over here…In fact…" she looks over her shoulder and points at a little table in the corner…with my backpack on top of it, "it's right there."

"Oh…I guess you could go get- Uhhhh…Actually…Pikachu, you think you could go get Misty's present for her…?"

"Pika!"

Pikachu hops off the bed and goes to my backpack. I wouldn't have minded if Misty went to go get it, normally…but…well Mom sent me an extra pack of…_yuck_…holiday underwear the other day and insisted that I open it right away…That's not something I want Misty to see!

While we're waiting for Pikachu to find it with all that underwear, I try to figure out what's in this gift that Misty gave me…I know we're supposed to wait until everyone's gone before we open presents, but Misty might not leave…

"You know, I won't mind if you open it now," she giggles.

"But…um…?"

"Ash, if you really want to follow tradition that badly, then I owe you a kiss."

"WAH!! Nonononono!!…I…I think I can open it right now…!"

She _does_ still want to kiss me!! I _knew _it!! I'd better hurry and open this before she gets the wrong idea!

I tear at the paper like I always do, very fast and very messily. The shredded stuff falls to the bed to reveal…blue wool…with little yellow stripes…No not stripes! Those are lightning bolts…I think…It's all woolly and knitted so I can't really tell…but…what is it…? I hold it up so it unfolds to my lap. It's…a long piece of cloth…Umm…Oh!!! I know. It's a scarf!! Ha!

"A scarf…?"

She nods a little. "Yeah…I know, it's not all that special, but…well you don't have anything to keep you warm and I've heard it's going to be really cold this winter." She laughs a little. "I would've got you a thicker coat, but that was too expensive and I don't think I could make you part with yours anyway."

"Heh…Maybe not before, but now it's pink and purple instead of white and blue…" We have the punch to thank for that…

She laughs again. "Yeah, Brock said he's working on getting rid of that…"

"I hope so…"

We're quiet for a moment and I look at my new scarf again…It really is a nice scarf I guess…Soft…Probably warm too…

"…Do you like it…? I…I picked that design because…I know blue's your favorite color and…well you like lightning bolts too, right?"

I look at her in surprise. She hit everything on the mark…

"Uhh…Yeah…Um…Thanks, Misty…I, I really do like it…"

She smiles, maybe in relief. "I'm glad…"

"Pika! Pikachupi!"

We both look down to see Pikachu holding Misty's present up for her to take.

"Oh, thanks Pikachu…and you too Ash…" She giggles again. She's been doing that a lot actually…Pikachu jumps back on the bed with me.

She looks at it curiously…It's a small, rectangle box, with um, blue wrapping paper. Yeah, I know she likes blue too…I'm kinda nervous about her present too…I…well, me and Pikachu really, worked hard on making it…I even…got a little book on how to make lures…It's a lot harder than it looks…Then finding a box for it…I ended up buying a real lure and keeping that one for myself…

"Um…You can open it…now if you want…" I shrug, "We don't have to follow tradition," I add hastily. Tradition is baad…

She giggles…again! What's with the giggling!? "Alright, Ash…"

She opens it, just a little more carefully than I did. Not by much actually…When she sees it in it's little plastic box, she gasps a little…I can't tell if it's a happy gasp or a horrified gasp…Either way, she carefully lifts the lid and takes the…rather crude Pikachu lure out and holds it up to see it better.

"It's…It's…" she begins…I can't tell if she's going in a good direction or a bad direction, so I just start babbling to save myself in case she's going in a bad direction.

"It's not really that good, I know…Um…I know you don't like store bought lures so-"

"Oh, that's okay…" she starts, "This one-"

"-so I made it myself," I finish quickly, then glance at Pikachu and correct myself. "Pikachu helped too…a lot, really…"

She nearly drops the lure because she's so surprised and she's staring at me too.

"You…You…_made_ this!?"

I nod…I…_think_ she's going in a good direction now…I hope…

"It's…beautiful……Thank you so much!"

…Wow…That was a _very_ good direction…I just hope it's not so good she's gonna try to kiss me…

She's smiling a lot now and she takes her…"tackle" box out of her backpack…She had to explain to me the first time I saw it that it's not called tackle because it can use the attack tackle, but because the stuff in it's called tackle. It's very confusing fishing stuff, so I just agreed with her to make things simple.

"I'll put it right next to my mini-Misty…" she grins and sure enough, that's where it goes…

"…I'm…glad you like it…" I tell her. I don't know what I'm doing but whatever it is it's happening anyway. "…I like your present too…um…I'll wear it when it gets really cold…"

She laughs again. I guess she's really happy…because…I'm okay…? Or maybe because I'm not running away from her anymore…Well, the only reason I'm doing that is because she's not trying to kiss me anymore…I think…

It gets quiet again…I start to wonder if she's thinking about what I'm thinking about…I…guess it can't hurt…to ask…

"Ash?"

"Mi-Wa?"

"Oh…You go ahead…"

"Uh…That's okay…You can-"

"No, really…You go ahead…"

"Um……Okay…"

I try to think of what exactly I want to say before actually saying it…

"Um…Misty…Um…Yesterday…at the party…um…Were…um…"

"Yeah…?"

"……Were you really gonna kiss me?"

"Uh…" She looks a little alarmed now, I think…Well, I'm nervous about it too, but I still want her to answer… "I……I don't know…" she whispers, "It is…tradition…but…I wouldn't have…if you didn't want me to…"

Really!!?

"…Really??"

She nods. "…If…it was going to make you uncomfortable…I wouldn't have tried…" she laughs a little again, but now it's more of a nervous laugh, "…if you'd even given me a chance…"

"I……sorry about that…"

"It's okay…but…are you really that scared of…kissing…? Or………or just me…?"

"Wha…!? It's not just you…umm…Kissing's gross…but…you were the only one who talked to me while I was under the mistletoe, so…I…was…kinda scared of you too…"

It takes her a moment to say the next bit. "…If you're so afraid of being kissed, then why were you under the mistletoe in the first place…?"

Oh man…

"Ummm…Honestly?"

"Yeah."

Oh boy…She's gonna think I'm really stupid now…

"…Well…You remember how crowded it was there…?"

"Yeah…?"

"It was _really_ crowded, right?"

"Yeah…" I think she's getting impatient…

"…Well…That was the only place that wasn't really crowded…and I didn't think anyone was gonna try to kiss me…"

She stares at me for a while…I can't tell what's going through her head and I'm not sure I wanna know…Finally, she starts laughing…

"That's all!? You…You know, most people stand under the mistletoe because they _want_ to be kissed…!"

Yuck!

"…Why would anyone want to be kissed…?"

"Because…then…maybe after…"

Not that!!

"They get eaten!?"

It gets _silent_ really fast. Misty is _really_ staring at me strangely now. Pikachu's trying his hardest not to laugh.

Misty finally speaks, slowly and carefully, with a strong hint of disbelief.

"…_Eaten_…?"

"…Yeah…Isn't that what girls do to guys after they kiss…?"

…I think she thinks I've gone crazy…

"…No girl would do that…" she says solemnly.

"…Yeah they would…I saw…I saw…the spider…she…"

"_That's_ what you're talking abo-!? _We're not spiders!!!_"

…Um……I guess she has a point there……

"…Uh…Oh…I didn't thinka that…"

She sighs really loudly. "Ash…what are we gonna do with you…?"

"Uhh…No kissing, I hope…" I grin a little.

She laughs too. "…No kissing…" Then she whispers to herself, and I don't think I'm supposed to hear this, but I did… "There's always New Year's Eve…"

Um…I'm scared…

A/N: *evil laugh* This is for all you good folks who read and review…Especially cheers and whoa-oh!s to Spook and Llyxius, lol, you guys are great *^.^*;; Belated Merry Christmas and be-earlied Happy New Year! *^o~*; Btw, yeah I know black widows don't just bite for no reason…I fixed that problem, and the edit's in the last chapter if you really want to go back and look for it…and to everyone who was expecting bad stuff to happen to our dear Ash…I think I did enough damage in the last chapter…Oh, and for those curious…

Philematophobia – Fear of kissing

Anablephobia – Fear of looking up (I couldn't find fear of attics *^_^*;;)

Arachnophobia – Fear of spiders

Kasumiphobia – Fear of Misty *^-~*;


End file.
